Trade diaspora is defined by Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples as “a network of merchant settlements dispersed across foreign lands but united by common origins, religion, and language, as well as by business dealings.” This definition is the best form of evidence that there was, in fact, a coherent community residing near and around the Indian Ocean by 1500. On the surface, this broad trade network is just that—a network. However, a closer look at the crises and resulting transformation of the fourteenth century, as well as the origins of the peoples involved, would reveal something much more complex and entirely unique.
Worldwide economic, religious, and demographical struggles contributed to the need
Worldwide economic, religious, and demographical struggles contributed to the need